Between September 26 and November 13, federal authorities filed charges against 2,409 individuals in the Southern District of Texas in connection with immigration and border security enforcement. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.
Of those charged, 966 face allegations of illegal entry into the United States, while another 1,245 are accused of felony reentry after removal. Many of these defendants have prior felony convictions for offenses such as narcotics violations, violent crimes, and other immigration-related infractions. In addition to these cases, authorities charged 140 people with human smuggling and processed another 58 cases involving drug offenses, firearms violations, assaults on federal officers, and other related crimes.
One case involves Walter Leonel Perez Rodriguez, a 33-year-old from El Salvador accused of attacking an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer with a hot beverage container during his arrest. The officer sustained second-degree burns and required stitches for a facial laceration. According to the complaint, Rodriguez had previously been removed from the United States in 2013 but returned at least twice more.
In another incident described by prosecutors, Javier Cornelio Cruz-Nava, a Mexican national aged 36, allegedly assaulted a Texas Department of Public Safety agent during an attempted traffic stop escape in Houston. The agent suffered head wounds after being thrown into a fence.
“These officers place their lives on the line every day to protect our communities and country, and they deserve to be protected in return,” said Ganjei. “Anyone who attacks law enforcement is attacking the American system of justice, and those who choose violence over lawfulness will be met with swift charges. The Southern District of Texas has a zero-tolerance policy towards anyone who does so. The message is clear – comply with officer directives and keep your hands to yourself.”
If convicted of assaulting or impeding persons assisting federal officers in these cases, both men could receive up to twenty years in prison and fines up to $250,000.
Authorities also highlighted the case against Savin Seng (also known as “Two-Face”), a Cambodian national charged following an investigation into a fatal shooting that led police to evidence linking him to possession of firearms while unlawfully present in the country since childhood.
Several individuals charged with illegal reentry were found recently in the Rio Grande Valley after having been previously deported due to convictions for aggravated assault or other serious crimes.
Other prosecutions included members of the Pasia gang sentenced for assaulting corrections officers at East Hidalgo Detention Center; Mailon Almendares-Martinez received more than four years for leading an alien smuggling conspiracy; Jose Eduardo Rocha was convicted by jury for attempting to transport undocumented immigrants hidden inside his vehicle; Edgar Ruiz-Briones was sentenced for coordinating transportation networks moving migrants from Mexico through Houston; Luis Adrian Torres-Tamayo received nearly nine years following prior removals and assaults on law enforcement; Antonio Pena was sentenced after transporting migrants concealed inside his car; additional sentences were handed down for foreign nationals illegally returning after criminal convictions; David Antonio Varcenas-Aguilar received over two years’ imprisonment as an illegal alien sex offender reentering from Mexico.
Federal agencies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Border Patrol, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms & Explosives (ATF), along with state/local partners contributed investigations or support.
These prosecutions fall under Operation Take Back America—an initiative by the Department of Justice focused on countering unlawful migration activities along with transnational crime groups impacting border communities.
The Southern District covers forty-three counties across approximately forty-four thousand square miles serving over nine million residents through its offices in Houston and six other cities throughout South Texas.
An indictment or criminal complaint is not proof but only an allegation until proven otherwise through judicial proceedings.
